Meet Huobi Labs – our new friend for 500 Startups’ Blockchain track. At close to $1 Billion in trading volume per day, Huobi is one of the largest global digital asset exchanges for cryptocurrencies. Founded in 2013, Huobi serves millions of customers from over 130 countries and now has business and operational centers across Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, etc. Huobi Lab is a blockchain incubator under Huobi started in 2017. 500 Startups will be teaming up with Huobi Lab to support our blockchain track and we will leverage Huobi Lab’s extensive global blockchain network. Together, we will provide practical guidance to companies on topics ranging from fundraising strategy, white paper development, go-to-market strategy, community engagement and marketing. “I …

Most VCs think they can predict the future when it comes to early stage deals. At 500, we’re more realistic about our strengths and weaknesses as seed stage investors. We realized early on that building high-velocity deal flow – more than the art of predicting winners – was our super power and we’ve built on that strategy ever since. (We’ve been shouting our investment strategy and portfolio approach from the rooftops since 2010. Read more about how we pick investments) We’re sharing that approach, as well as some tips on how to build a pipeline of high-quality deals that can scale in the future, in today’s blog post. From hundreds to thousands When you’re just getting started as a VC, …

[Editor’s Note] This is a guest post from Adam Sterling, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business, and a lecturer at VC Unlocked: Deal Camp at Berkeley. This post originally appeared on LinkedIn. In 2014, 500 Startups, a global venture capital firm, took a little-known action that would help change the landscape of international venture finance. This action had nothing to do with investment dollars, new hires, or liquidation events. 500 Startups simply open-sourced their proprietary investment contract for early-stage investments, the KISS (“Keep It Simple Security”), to startups and investors around the world. In the next year, fellow venture capital giant Y Combinator followed suit and open-sourced their own proprietary investment contract, the SAFE (“Simple Agreement …

500 Startups is calling all blockchain teams around the globe. We know you are well experienced in distributed networks, cryptography and security and want to use blockchains to change the world. However you also know that to build a truly impactful blockchain-oriented company at crypto speed, you need help in community building, token design, marketing, business development, hiring, and much more. We are here for you. 500 Startups has specifically designed a new “blockchain track” as part of our March 2018 accelerator program with blockchain entrepreneurs in mind. With hundreds of companies under our belt (including Lightyear (powered by the Stellar network) and Unikorn Gold), we know how to accelerate your growth. What You’ll Learn By joining the 500 Startups …

2017 was a landmark year for the MENA startup ecosystem. That hectic pace of development has continued, even accelerated in the first month of 2018. Having been in the MENA startup space in one form or another since 2007, looking back on what has happened in the past year astonishes me. The rapid pace of development, growth and maturity that took place over the last year is astounding. So, below I wanted to document a few of the main developments I’ve seen from my personal perspective in 2017, which I hope to see continue in 2018. An increasing government focus on entrepreneurship TL;DR – Almost every government across the MENA region has woken up and is actively supporting the startup …

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